Follow me as I join "an extraordinary group of Americans who have sought the challenges that are unique to Peace Corps service: the opportunity to live in a different culture, to learn a new language, and to forge lasting relationships with the people of Peru and fellow Volunteers" (taken from the Peace Corps Volunteer Handbook)

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Tid bits

So the following blurbs didn't warrant their own posts, but are noteworthy so please enjoy the following glimpses of what is my current daily life:

1. Stick bugs "wrestling".
I know they probably aren't really wrestling, but since this blog is public, and I don't control who reads it, lets just say that's what these two creatures were doing outside my room when I was on my way to work.

2. Huaripampa Baby Eggs.
My site mate, Sara Jane, and I are teaching a sexual health class to a class of kids in a town that is about an hour taxi ride from my site every Thursday. The class is 12 sessions long and hits topics like self-esteem, family planing, STD, pregnancy, and goal setting. For our pregnancy class, Sara gave each kid an egg with the assignment to treat it like a real baby. The kids had to bring it to school every day, take it to the health post and talk to the nurses about sexual health/pregnancy, and more importantly not break the egg. Four of the 12 eggs didn't make it. Two eggs had knitted hats at the end of the week.

3. Ben the bike master.
I mentioned Ben before, but he deserves another shout out for the following. He's building a bamboo bike! This guy is a real bike nut, which is cool because in his short time in being here, he has infected a lot of people with bike fever. I definitely have it, but more importantly, the people in his community have it too. He has started a bike maintenance trend in his site, where kids and community members can use his house and tools to learn how to repair their own bikes. He reports that it has been huge success, with 10-30 kids showing up on a regular bases to learn how to maintain their bikes. Here are pictures of his bamboo bike frame, and a piece of "bike art" he made using a old clock.